I've been hunting the Manitoba Muzzle season off and on now for 8 or 9 years. Strictly bucks only as the rifle season is right after the ML season and I can shoot for meat during the rifle season. This is the 4th year on this particular piece of land that belongs to my Wife's uncle. It is a huge area. Close to 2 sections. I've had some chances over the years but things just didn't seem to ever line up. I was either too far away, not patient enough, wrong place at the wrong time, etc. I kind of figured this year would be the same story.
Last year I had gotten a game cam and some really nice bucks on picture so I knew there were some nice one's in the area. One with a nice 6" drop tine. I put the game cams out early this year hoping for some good results like last year but for some reason I just couldn't get any good pics. 2000 pics of moving grass, 550 pics of cattle, 1 pic of a bear messing with the camera. I only had one good pic out of all of them and it looked like it was the same droptine buck from last year. The picture was taken about 20-30 yards from last years pic so I figured I had his daytime hideout pinpointed.
Opening weekend I went out and only saw 1 deer. Tons of sign but not much deer sightings. It also rained heavily so I decided to call it a day early instead of risking getting stuck on the mud road and chewing it up.
The next Sat was pretty much the same story. Didn't see a lot of deer at all. Lots of sign but no deer. Walked about 5 miles. During the middle of the day I decided to go and check out the bush where I got the pic of the droptine buck from. It was in an area that had less deer sign than the others. About 1/4 - 1/2 mile from where I had gotten the pic I found an area with a lot of rubs. I decided to setup there for the evening. The farmer had put some large rocks in a bluff just inside some brush that was 165 yards from a good concentration of rubs. I figured it was a good hiding spot. Got there about 2pm and settled in.
By 5:50 I hadn't seen a thing and was starting to get a bit discouraged. I was glassing out into the field and saw a doe come out. She was a good 500+ yards away. Suddenly she started running towards me and joined up with 2 other does that I hadn't seen come out. I watched them for about 5 mins when I saw another deer just inside the thick willows. He stood there for what seemed like a while before he decided to come out.
There was a strong SE wind and the deer had come out SW of me. As I was watching the buck, the does started heading North across my hiding spot. Any further and they would have busted me. But fortunately he decided to come a bit further and as soon as he was broadside I took the shot. I could tell from the sound that I had hit him. There was a heck of a thwack and he went down like a ton bricks. I measured the distance with my GPS and it was just over 66 yards.
This was right at about 6:00 or 6:05pm. 30 mins left of legal light. I had to quickly clean him (first time by myself) and then walk the mile back to the truck. Luckily I was able to enlist my wife's uncle and his sons to come and help me retrieve him. Man it was dark by then. He sure was fat. On parts of his back he had fat over an inch thick. I figure he is about 4-5 years old.
I was using a TC Omega Z5 with Elite 3200 3x9x40 scope. Load was 3 50 grain pyrodex pellets and a 220 grain dead center bullet.
Thanks for reading.
Kevin
First Black Powder Deer.
